Severable cigar having two sealed heads

ABSTRACT

A cigar has a length of at least 8 inches and may be severed in a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis without deleteriously affecting its structural integrity or its smokability. The cigar has a non-rotatable collar consisting of a smokable tobacco product which surrounds and grips the cigar at its midpoint. Overlapping portions of the spirally wound wrapper are glued together by a smokable adhesive, from one end of the cigar to the other.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

Not applicable.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to cigars.

2. Description of Related Art

Cigars generally comprise a filler, a binder, and a wrapper. The bindertightly surrounds the filler, and then the wrapper tightly surrounds thebinder. The wrapper is spirally wound, with each of its turnsoverlapping slightly the turn beneath it. See, for example, The CompleteIdiot's Guide to Cigars by Tad Gage, 1997, in which pages 9-10 set forthcigar nomenclature and pages 95-105 describe how cigars are made. Seealso Wikipedia, which states:

-   -   Although some cigars are cut on both ends, or twirled at both        ends, the vast majority come with one straight cut end and one        end in a “cap”. Most quality handmade cigars, regardless of        shape, will have a cap which is one or more small pieces of a        wrapper pasted on to one end of the cigar with a either a        natural tobacco paste or with a mixture of flour and water. The        cap end of a cigar must be cut off for the cigar to be smoked        properly. It is the rounded end without the tobacco exposed, and        this is the end one should always cut.

Double-headed cigars are known, however. The 5 Vegas Relic has a roundedhead at one end and a curvingly tapered, torpedo-like head at theopposite end. The user cuts the rounded end so that he can put it in hismouth and draw smoke through it, in the usual manner. He or she probablycuts the opposite, tapered end before lighting it, but alternatively maychoose to simply light that end without cutting it. The 5 Vegas Reliccigar is approximately 5⅝ in. (143 mm.) long. It is described on the websites of Cigars International, Cigars.com, The Velvet Cigar, and TheStogie Review.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A cigar according to this invention has a length of at least 8 inchesand may be severed in a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axiswithout deleteriously affecting its structural integrity or itssmokability. Such severability (1) permits the cigar to have sealedheads on each end, which helps seal in flavors and aroma until the useris ready to smoke it; (2) allows the user to select the length of thecigar he wishes to smoke at that particular time; and/or (3) easily andconveniently provides two cigars instead of one for the occasion, as theuser desires. Elements and features of the inventive cigar facilitatecutting and preserve the structural integrity of the cigar after it iscut, by preventing or minimizing tearing or unraveling of the wrapper,which could create an unsmokable cigar. Such unraveling would change thebasic structure of the cigar, and if the cigar is still smokable, wouldsignificantly alter the taste profile, because the majority of theflavor is derived from the wrapper. Alternatively, the cigar may also besmoked as a single cigar, from either end.

Such elements and features of the invention include (1) a non-rotatablecollar consisting of a smokable tobacco product which surrounds andgrips the cigar at its midpoint, and/or (2) gluing overlapping portionsof the spirally would wrapper together by a smokable adhesive, from oneend of the cigar to the other.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cigar according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional end view taken at 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional end view taken at 3-3 in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, cigar 10 is conventional in that it hasfiller 12 tightly surrounded by binder 14, which in turn is tightlysurrounded by wrapper 16. Wrapper 16 is spirally wound, with each turnoverlapping the turn beneath it by a margin of from about ⅛ inch toabout ¼ inch.

According to the invention, the overlapped portions 18 are adhered toeach other by a smokable adhesive, such as pectin or gum of tragacanth,over substantially the entire length of the cigar, to form a seam. Theadhesive, which has virtually no thickness as compared with thethickness of wrapper 16, is shown by the small x′s at the interface andis indicated by reference character 20. The two overlapped layers ofwrapper 16 and adhesive 20 constitute the seam. The cigar is generallycylindrical, as that term is used in solid geometry to mean a shapegenerated by a straight line moving parallel to a fixed straight lineand intersecting a closed, plane curve. The cross-section of the cigarmay be any shape which is typical or practical, for example circular,oval, or rectangular.

At each end or “head” of cigar 10 is a conventional smokable cap 22, 24,which consists of a quarter-sized piece of tobacco leaf adhered to therest of the wrapper by a smokable adhesive such as pectin or gum oftragacanth, so as to form a seal with the wrapper. Alternatively, theheads may be closed and sealed by extending the wrapper and using theadhesive to adhere the extended wrapper to itself, as for example tocreate a torpedo or pigtail shape, or as shown in Chopko et al. U.S.Pat. No. 4,191,198.

To further enhance severability, it is preferred that the cigar havecollar 26 at its midpoint, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Collar 26surrounds and grips the wrapper. During the cutting operation, collar 26tends to hold the cigar in its original cross-sectional shape, therebyminimizing the reduction of the cross sectional area of the binder andwrapper and extrusion of filler from the cut end. Collar 26 alsorestrains and guides the blade and promotes a more consistent burn.Collar 26 is made of a rectangular piece of natural or homogenizedtobacco whose ends have been overlapped and adhered by a smokableadhesive. It has approximately the same thickness as the wrapper, and isapproximately 0.50 inch wide.

The inventive cigar, like most high quality cigars, is made by rolling,by hand.

Preferably, a conventional cigar cutter may be used to perform thecutting operation. An example is the cutter shown in Van Keppel et al.U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,523, which are sold under the trademark “Xikar”.Alternatively, a conventional sharp knife with a straight blade may beused, preferably in a downward guillotine-like stroke with the cigarsupported on a flat surface and the blade at an angle to the surface.

The inventive cigars will be individually wrapped in non-smokablepackaging, for example plastic or foil, when shipped and sold. When theinventive cigar is smoked as a single cigar, the user, after removingthe packaging, cuts both heads of the cigar, puts one end in his or hermouth, and lights the opposite end. When the inventive cigar is severed(i.e., cut) into two cigars, as described above, the user(s), afterremoving the packaging, cuts the head of one or both of the two, putsthe cut head in his or her mouth, and lights the end created by thesevering cut.

The inventive cigar is an improvement over prior art cigars in that itscontinuous spiral seam formed by overlapped portions of the wrapper andthe adhesive, and/or the collar, provide superior severability. Priorart cigars, we believe, do not use adhesive along the wrapper to keep itin place. Instead, the cap holds the wrapper in place and adhesive holdsthe cap in place.

1. A severable cigar having a length of at least 8 inches and comprising (a) filler consisting of compacted pieces of tobacco leaf; (b) a generally cylindrical binder consisting of a portion of a tobacco leaf tightly surrounding the filler; (c) a generally cylindrical wrapper consisting of a portion of a tobacco leaf spirally wrapped around and surrounding the binder in such a manner that the edge of each successive turn overlaps the edge of the turn of the wrapper immediately below it, to form a generally spiral overlapped portion, the surfaces of which overlapped portion are secured together by smokable adhesive for substantially the length of the cigar, so as to form a generally spiral seam; (d) a first head sealed by smokable adhesive at one end of the cigar; and (e) a second head sealed by smokable adhesive at the other end of the cigar; whereby the user may cut the cigar cleanly in a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, in order to create two cigars of desired lengths, without substantially diminishing their structural integrity.
 2. A cigar according to claim 1 which further comprises a non-rotatable collar surrounding and gripping the cigar at its midpoint, which collar consists of a smokable tobacco product and further enhances the severability of the cigar.
 3. A severable cigar having a length of at least 8 inches and comprising (a) filler consisting of compacted pieces of tobacco leaf; (b) a generally cylindrical binder consisting of a portion of a tobacco leaf tightly surrounding the filler; (c) a generally cylindrical wrapper consisting of a portion of a tobacco leaf spirally wrapped around and surrounding the binder in such a manner that the edge of each successive turn overlaps the edge of the turn of the wrapper immediately below it, to form a generally spiral overlapped portion; (d) a first head sealed by smokable adhesive at one end of the cigar; (e) a second head sealed by smokable adhesive at the other end of the cigar; and (f) a non-rotatable collar surrounding and gripping the cigar at its midpoint, which collar consists of a smokable tobacco product; whereby the user may cut the cigar cleanly through the collar in a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, in order to create two cigars, without substantially diminishing their structural integrity.
 4. A method of making two cigars of desired lengths, which method comprises (a) providing a cigar according to claim 1 which is surrounded by non-smokable packaging; (b) removing the packaging from the cigar; and (c) cutting the cigar along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.
 5. A method of making two cigars of desired lengths, which method comprises (a) providing a cigar according to claim 2 which is surrounded by non-smokable packaging; (b) removing the packaging from the cigar; and (c) cutting the cigar along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.
 6. A method of making two cigars of desired lengths, which method comprises (a) providing a cigar according to claim 3 which is surrounded by non-smokable packaging; (b) removing the packaging from the cigar; and (c) cutting the cigar along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.
 7. A method of making two cigars of desired lengths, which method comprises (a) providing a generally cylindrical cigar which is at least 8 inches long, has a longitudinal axis, has a sealed head at each end, and is surrounded by non-smokable packaging; (b) removing the packaging from the cigar; and (c) cutting the cigar along a plane perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. 